Tichu! (Not a pre-eveloved Pichu)

Today in class, a number of board/card games were handed out. Each was given on a first come first serve basis and by some luck of the draw (ba-doom-chhhhhhh), I ended up playing Tichu.

Above image taken from boardgamegeek.com

Tichu is a 2-6 player card game involving either 1 or 2 decks with 4-8 special cards respectively. These players are then split into two teams (unless there are only three or five... in which case the rules change yet again) and the goal is for you and your partner(s) to win tricks and get up to 1000 points. The game plays almost like a fusion of President and Poker as you can play either singles, doubles, double doubles in incrementing order (with no limit on how many can be played), e.g. two 7s and two 8s, 3 of a kind, straights of 5 cards or more and full houses. 4 of a kind or a straight flush (again, with no limit) count as bombs that can be played at any point or time, regardless of whether or not it's your turn.

 The special cards (from left to right) are the Dragon, Pheonix, Mah Jong and Dog. (Image taken from http://www.thecookblog.com/ill-teach-you-tichu)





I only had half an hour to dabble in the many intricacies of Tichu; and suffice to say, the time slot wasn't nearly enough. In that small half an hour (15 of which was devoted SOLELY to reading the rules and trying to figure out who goes first and how) we played one trick and didn't even tally up the points. Long story short: this is one tough game to learn. That being said, that's what has led me to love this game - even in that short time span. The intricacies of the game are what allow for all the thinking and strategy to unfold. I really enjoy the high level of strategy and wordless teamwork this game allows players to achieve.

However, I would make a simpler version of the game if I could. For many non-card game enthusiasts, these kinds of games are the worst to play; especially in today's day and age. In a society where pick up and play is the way to go, these older games lose prevalence - especially older games that can take up to an hour to start learning to play. By learning to play, I don't mean being good at it. I actually mean learning to play. After talking with some of the members and expressing how much I wanted to continue playing, the rest of them seemed less taken to it; proving my point in a sense.

So I leave you with these two contradicting statements - I'd change the rules; but I wouldn't change the rules. As I said earlier, the rules are what make this game so great. At the same time, these rules are what cuts it off from the "greater population." But hey, maybe that isn't a bad thing.